Advances in semiconductor processing and logic design have permitted an increase in the amount of logic that may be present on integrated circuit devices. As a result, computer system configurations have evolved from a single or multiple integrated circuits in a system to multiple hardware threads, multiple cores, multiple devices, and/or complete systems on individual integrated circuits. Additionally, as the density of integrated circuits has grown, the power requirements for computing systems (from embedded systems to servers) have also escalated. Furthermore, software inefficiencies, and its requirements of hardware, have also caused an increase in computing device energy consumption. In fact, some studies indicate that computing devices consume a sizeable percentage of the entire electricity supply for a country, such as the United States of America. As a result, there is a vital need for energy efficiency and conservation associated with integrated circuits. These needs will increase as servers, desktop computers, notebooks, Ultrabooks™, tablets, mobile phones, processors, embedded systems, etc. become even more prevalent (from inclusion in the typical computer, automobiles, and televisions to biotechnology).
Many processors implement turbo mode power management in order to maximize performance while keeping overall power consumption as low as possible. The most dominant parts that define turbo capabilities are a processor's power budget and cooling solution. Since a thermal time constant (the time to increase processor temperature) is relatively large as compared to processor operation time constants (the time to increase processor frequency), it is possible to run at power (and frequency) levels higher than steady state capabilities of a cooling solution. However, such operation may be limited by various settings and constraints.